I'm really glad I found this site and this topic!
I'm a 43 year old female and I'm considering having my tonsils out. I have mild sleep apnea according to my husband. I never feel like I'm rested after a full nights sleep. I'm hoping the surgery will help with that. I also know that I snore, so hopefully it will help with that too.
My niece recently had the surgery and she is 20. She said the first three weeks were the worst, but after the first several days, each one was a little better. She used to snore also and according to her roommates, she doesn't any more.
I haven't read all the posts yet (this is a really long thread!), but I hope to be able to use some of the info here in my decision and hopefully my recovery!
I'm a 43 year old female and I'm considering having my tonsils out. I have mild sleep apnea according to my husband. I never feel like I'm rested after a full nights sleep. I'm hoping the surgery will help with that. I also know that I snore, so hopefully it will help with that too.
My niece recently had the surgery and she is 20. She said the first three weeks were the worst, but after the first several days, each one was a little better. She used to snore also and according to her roommates, she doesn't any more.
I haven't read all the posts yet (this is a really long thread!), but I hope to be able to use some of the info here in my decision and hopefully my recovery!
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In response to the person who got all liquids for the meds, you might wanna have a pain killer pill script in hand just in case...
I had liquid lortab and for the first 5-6 days i suffered HORRIBLY taking it every 4 hours (BURNED like crazy going down), yet daily i took my diabetes cholesterol and blood pressure pills with very little issue (not more than the normal amount of swallowing pain).
The diabetes pill was a bit larger so i cut it in half but still taking those pills was SO much easier than swallowing that liquid FIRE i called it hehe.
After day 5 or 6 i called and got a vicodin 500mg pill script, i can take one or two as needed for pain, and life is SO much nicer taking those vs that liquid pain stuff.
I have sleep apnea and wear a cpap, ENT said after this surgery and a few more lbs lost i need to get re-evaluated since my tonsils were so large they were obstructing my airway (and that was on a good day) when they swell up i was having trouble even swallowing, so imagine the snoring part.
So I am hoping for the best on that, I do agree get and use a humidifier! My cpap has one built in so i fill that thing 2x a night once before bed (crank it on 100%) then again around 4am when i take pain meds again refill and 100% and it has made a huge difference, plus I have 3 going in the house at all times too.
Many other issues for me allergic to the world (many enviormental things) my ent is great tho, she got me a head ct ruled out any tumors polyps or deviations in sinuses, allergy testing which showed TONS of allergies which im now about to start up shots for next week and then this tonsils coming out stuff, so man i hope in about 2-4 months I will start feeling human again and maybe even get off the cpap eventually too or at least get the pressure reduced.
It used to be i was outside all the time bike riding doing stuff playing at the park with the kids, in the last 5yrs if im outside more than about 5 mins im miserable sneezing head filled up just get me inside NOW sorta thing, sleeping was a joke cuz i couldn't breathe when i laid my head down, dozens of OTC meds no help, doc tried many basic allergy meds (allegra, zyrtec, singular, nasacort, and a few others again all no help), it took me going to an ENT finding out what Im allergic to, seeing those tonsils and having them removed (im 9 days out from that so far).
She also gave me a spray that actually works called pantanase and a pill that actually works called xyzal - both in large sample amounts because i was skeptical filling yet "another" script for allergies... and soon hopefully these shots will help my allergies even more too she says but so far i am breathing well and the cpap wow at night i used to feel this weird flapping going on (tonsil area) now its fast smooth air going in no flapping very cool but hard to explain, so I sure am hoping for a better 2009 here all around once i get over the healing of the tonsils thing.
One thing is for sure I owe my ENT a good thank you card with a massage certificate or dinner card or something cuz she has been amazing at helping to figure out and (hopefully) fix all this stuff going on here.
Bill :)
I had liquid lortab and for the first 5-6 days i suffered HORRIBLY taking it every 4 hours (BURNED like crazy going down), yet daily i took my diabetes cholesterol and blood pressure pills with very little issue (not more than the normal amount of swallowing pain).
The diabetes pill was a bit larger so i cut it in half but still taking those pills was SO much easier than swallowing that liquid FIRE i called it hehe.
After day 5 or 6 i called and got a vicodin 500mg pill script, i can take one or two as needed for pain, and life is SO much nicer taking those vs that liquid pain stuff.
I have sleep apnea and wear a cpap, ENT said after this surgery and a few more lbs lost i need to get re-evaluated since my tonsils were so large they were obstructing my airway (and that was on a good day) when they swell up i was having trouble even swallowing, so imagine the snoring part.
So I am hoping for the best on that, I do agree get and use a humidifier! My cpap has one built in so i fill that thing 2x a night once before bed (crank it on 100%) then again around 4am when i take pain meds again refill and 100% and it has made a huge difference, plus I have 3 going in the house at all times too.
Many other issues for me allergic to the world (many enviormental things) my ent is great tho, she got me a head ct ruled out any tumors polyps or deviations in sinuses, allergy testing which showed TONS of allergies which im now about to start up shots for next week and then this tonsils coming out stuff, so man i hope in about 2-4 months I will start feeling human again and maybe even get off the cpap eventually too or at least get the pressure reduced.
It used to be i was outside all the time bike riding doing stuff playing at the park with the kids, in the last 5yrs if im outside more than about 5 mins im miserable sneezing head filled up just get me inside NOW sorta thing, sleeping was a joke cuz i couldn't breathe when i laid my head down, dozens of OTC meds no help, doc tried many basic allergy meds (allegra, zyrtec, singular, nasacort, and a few others again all no help), it took me going to an ENT finding out what Im allergic to, seeing those tonsils and having them removed (im 9 days out from that so far).
She also gave me a spray that actually works called pantanase and a pill that actually works called xyzal - both in large sample amounts because i was skeptical filling yet "another" script for allergies... and soon hopefully these shots will help my allergies even more too she says but so far i am breathing well and the cpap wow at night i used to feel this weird flapping going on (tonsil area) now its fast smooth air going in no flapping very cool but hard to explain, so I sure am hoping for a better 2009 here all around once i get over the healing of the tonsils thing.
One thing is for sure I owe my ENT a good thank you card with a massage certificate or dinner card or something cuz she has been amazing at helping to figure out and (hopefully) fix all this stuff going on here.
Bill :)
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i had my tonsils out on the Thursday and its now Sunday, the pain isn't as bad as i thought it would be, its just swallowing that's the worst, and then i get ear ache and feel very faint, iv slept all through the night and not woke up, so im happy about that..
its the phlegm that annoys me, it tastes vile, and i have to try and clear my throat and spit it up ( which hurts).
after having the op done, i didn't eat anything til the morning, i went home and had egg on toast, iv also ate ice cream,jelly, roast chicken meal ( cut up), and a packet of crisps ( skips)... it just hurts swallowing, but im forcing it down..
so all in all, the experience wasn't that bad, the worst thing is, not being able to talk and the swallowing!!!
good luck everyone xx
its the phlegm that annoys me, it tastes vile, and i have to try and clear my throat and spit it up ( which hurts).
after having the op done, i didn't eat anything til the morning, i went home and had egg on toast, iv also ate ice cream,jelly, roast chicken meal ( cut up), and a packet of crisps ( skips)... it just hurts swallowing, but im forcing it down..
so all in all, the experience wasn't that bad, the worst thing is, not being able to talk and the swallowing!!!
good luck everyone xx
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Hello,
I am a 36 year old female who has recurring Tonsilloliths (tonsil stones). There has been no infection (swelling, pain, sore throat), just the nasty stones on and off since I was 19. They cause bad breath, but no real discomfort, just a wierd feeling in my throat when ones needs to come out.
My doctor says it's the only way to be rid of them, but I'm not sure I want to suffer the pain and the time out of work and the possible side effects (taste loss and other possible damage from surgury). My "reason" for having them out does not really seem to be extreme enough to suffer through this.
Has anyone had them out JUST because they had Tonsilloliths, and if so, what it worth it?
Thank so much for any replies.
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Ok, I've heard a ton of horror stories, but went ahead with the surgery- I wasn't in much pain the first day and a half but then I figured I didn't need the pain medicine every four hours- maybe just every six- however it was a biggg mistake! So, now taking it every four hours I am back to where I was- not feeling much pain, except for swallowing, still only Jello and water and Icee Pops! My friend suggested that I buy knee socks and fill them with rice- then tie the tops...it was like a $2.00 neck wrap! I froze one and I heated up the other, I use the heated one for the back of my neck up to my ears and the cold one for the front of my throat!!! It was seriously the best suggestion I have ever taken!!! It was so awesome! I keep drinking drinking drinking ICE cold water- it feels good going down. My breath is sooo horrible- I feel bad for my boyfriend on Valentine's Day- no kisses!!! haha ( I am also eating babyfood- even though I'm 20 haha)
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Had mine out two weeks yesterday and i am fully back to normal now, was able to eat anything by 9 days. So for anyone who has just had it done, you will get through it even if it seems like it will last forever.
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Hello all,
For months I read through all these posts, scared out of my mind about having my tonsils out. But I decided to do it, and I wanted to balance out all of these scary posts. I don't want to downplay the terrible experiences other people had. But I didn't have a terrible experience.
I'm a healthy 33-year-old female, and I had mine out in the US less than 2 weeks ago. I can't give you a day-by-day account (and I am VERY impressed by those who can) because it's pretty blurry to me right now. But I can tell you that it wasn't too bad, and if you have the time off work and other obligations, you can get through it pretty well. I mean, was it painful? Absolutely. But nothing you should be scared of. I mean, you're an adult, right, or you wouldn't be looking at this topic. But please, here are some tips.
The worst part of my recovery was constipation. I'd read in other posts that adults can be driven to tears during the recovery, and while I never cried, the constipation brought me the closest. The problem was that I was slamming down mac and cheese at every opportunity, and the drugs were already stopping me up. Seriously stupid. So do what you can to make sure you don't suffer the bathroom trips that I did. Stool softeners from the beginning would have helped. Oy. And when I got backed up down there, it caused some vomiting up here.
Another thing that I wish I had done earlier was to get off the heavy drugs sooner -- really as soon as possible. I started out on Tylenol 3 with codeine, but some violent (though not painful, oddly enough) vomiting on the second night changed that situation. My doc put me on Darvocet for the pain and Vistaril for the vomiting. Anyway, I stayed on the painkillers that were stopping me up for too long. After my husband made an offhand comment, I switched to just Extra Strength Tylenol on the 7th day and it was fine at managing my pain. I was also heavily using ice packs and a warm pack for the pain, and I frankly think I got more out of those than I got from the painkillers. And no constipation. (sorry to seem obsessed about this, but regularity is important to me)
Start eating when you can. It really brings morale up. I lost 6 pounds in the whole ordeal, but I'm already gaining it back happily. I had a gyro and fries yesterday, Day 11. Man, it was wonderful. It took a long time and a lot of chewing, but wonderful nonetheless. On Day 12, I feel like I can eat anything reasonable (not chips or toast or anything crazy).
Oh, and watch the talking. If you have a laptop, set up an account on gmail, and chat with all your friends, even if they come over to visit. I'm still instituting minimal-talking days. One friend came over on Day 6 or 7 and we talked, but then the next day my throat hurt a lot more.
Anyway, if you can get the time off and can lay about in a stupor with someone taking care of you, don't worry. I mean, it's not the most fun I've ever had, but it was not as terrible as other people's experiences were.
For months I read through all these posts, scared out of my mind about having my tonsils out. But I decided to do it, and I wanted to balance out all of these scary posts. I don't want to downplay the terrible experiences other people had. But I didn't have a terrible experience.
I'm a healthy 33-year-old female, and I had mine out in the US less than 2 weeks ago. I can't give you a day-by-day account (and I am VERY impressed by those who can) because it's pretty blurry to me right now. But I can tell you that it wasn't too bad, and if you have the time off work and other obligations, you can get through it pretty well. I mean, was it painful? Absolutely. But nothing you should be scared of. I mean, you're an adult, right, or you wouldn't be looking at this topic. But please, here are some tips.
The worst part of my recovery was constipation. I'd read in other posts that adults can be driven to tears during the recovery, and while I never cried, the constipation brought me the closest. The problem was that I was slamming down mac and cheese at every opportunity, and the drugs were already stopping me up. Seriously stupid. So do what you can to make sure you don't suffer the bathroom trips that I did. Stool softeners from the beginning would have helped. Oy. And when I got backed up down there, it caused some vomiting up here.
Another thing that I wish I had done earlier was to get off the heavy drugs sooner -- really as soon as possible. I started out on Tylenol 3 with codeine, but some violent (though not painful, oddly enough) vomiting on the second night changed that situation. My doc put me on Darvocet for the pain and Vistaril for the vomiting. Anyway, I stayed on the painkillers that were stopping me up for too long. After my husband made an offhand comment, I switched to just Extra Strength Tylenol on the 7th day and it was fine at managing my pain. I was also heavily using ice packs and a warm pack for the pain, and I frankly think I got more out of those than I got from the painkillers. And no constipation. (sorry to seem obsessed about this, but regularity is important to me)
Start eating when you can. It really brings morale up. I lost 6 pounds in the whole ordeal, but I'm already gaining it back happily. I had a gyro and fries yesterday, Day 11. Man, it was wonderful. It took a long time and a lot of chewing, but wonderful nonetheless. On Day 12, I feel like I can eat anything reasonable (not chips or toast or anything crazy).
Oh, and watch the talking. If you have a laptop, set up an account on gmail, and chat with all your friends, even if they come over to visit. I'm still instituting minimal-talking days. One friend came over on Day 6 or 7 and we talked, but then the next day my throat hurt a lot more.
Anyway, if you can get the time off and can lay about in a stupor with someone taking care of you, don't worry. I mean, it's not the most fun I've ever had, but it was not as terrible as other people's experiences were.
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Hi im a 24 yr old female.I just found out today that im going to be having my tonsillectomy in 10 days, and im really scared. Ive read all of these stories and it sounds so painfull. I have a very low pain tolerance and im not sure if im going to be able to handle it. This will be my first real surgery besides having my wisdom teeth out (which went really well considering). I just hope that its not as bad as every makes it sound. Im also deathly allergic to codiene. I hope that they have something else that they can give me that will work just as well. Does anyone have any advice for me conserning the pain?Anything would help!!!
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Just wanted to spread some encouragement for those in the tonsillectomy process. I enjoyed reading people's day by day reports and personal tips from their recovery process so I wanted to spread the wealth. I'll update it as recovery presses on.
A little background: I decided to get the tonsillectomy due to tonsil stones (Tonsilloliths). I had multiple bouts with strep throat and one good fight with scarlet fever as a child but never got the tonsils removed. Sadly my tonsils got cryptic and I had to clean tonsil stones daily. Anyone who has dealt with it knows that it isn't the most fun thing in the world. I'm 20 and still on my parent's insurance plan so we got an appointment scheduled with the ENT. I was pretty blunt with him and came in there with a pretty firm technical knowledge of my problem and asked if he could sign off on a tonsillectomy. He told me a lot of ENT's are "gunshy" about removing tonsils these days but he gladly takes them out for people dealing with tonsilloliths. He said he's taken tonsils out of a 67 year old woman for that exact problem. I was confident he was the right doctor for me so we got a tonsillectomy schedule for this past Friday (7 days ago).
I went into surgery with an extremely positive mindset. I don't know if there is any medical backing for this but I'm a firm believer that going into surgery with the mindset that it's going to go perfect and recovery will be a breeze (and keeping that attitude) will translate into results after the surgery. The nurses commented multiple times that I was one of their most fun patients. Hey, if I was a nurse I would want to have fun patients Razz
They wheeled me back for surgery at 8:00. I was hooked up to all the IV and ready to be wheeled in for the anesthesia at around 8:30. Woke up feeling pretty groggy and immediately asked how the surgery went. The nurses said it went as planned and gave me some Sprite to drink. After an hour or so of monitoring to make sure everything was going as planned they released me to go home, hoorah. Here is a day by day account of what has happened post-op.
Day One (surgery): Felt great. Of course there was some mild throat pain and I had Roxicet (pain meds) running through my system. I was more annoyed because my htead felt stuffy and dizzy due to the anesthesia/meds as compared to the throat pain. I read up a lot about post-op eating habits and basically concluded that eating what you want is okay (within reason, no really sharp foods) as long as you can take the pain of swallowing. I also heard that eating is just as important as drinking because it keeps important nutrients in your system for quick recovery. My theme for recovery was, "More pain now, less later." I downed a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup, ice cream, a croissant and jello the first day. I was drinking water constantly. Oh, your uvula will probably be really swollen. Don't let it freak you out.
Day Two: Noticeable increase in pain during the second day. I wasn't miserable, but my throat was definitely telling my brain it had recently undergone some surgery. Kept taking my Roxicet every four hours as prescribed. I moved on to chicken noodle soup to get some vegetables in my system and also blended a peanut butter/banana/chocolate/protein powder/thin mint cookie shake which was really soothing and filled with calories. Croissants, pudding and ice cream were still my comfort foods. Water, of course, was flowing through my system. I had to pee a lot, which is a good thing.
Day Three: Another bump up in the pain. I realized when I woke up that it was always worse in the morning after a night of sleep. I also made the decision on day three to stop taking Roxicet and switch to extra strength Tylenol. I hate feeling like I'm not in control of myself and the Roxicet just made my head feel loopy. It was also making me constipated and I'm quite fond of working bowels. I also wanted to track the pain in my throat more precisely so I decided to suck it up and use Tylenol instead of the prescribed pain killers. I would only recommend getting off pain meds this early if you can still force yourself to deal with the pain of swallowing and still eat. No huge changes in my diet, I think I had a sloppy joe that night because I wanted some meat.
Day Four: Here is where recovery went from, "Hey I can take this" to "Wow this sucks". I have a pretty high pain but being off the Roxicet and having my scabs start to loosen was not enjoyable at all. Every time I swallowed it felt like knives were being jammed in my ears. Expect the ear pain, it will come. Just be ready for it when it does. Ice packs helped get me through the day. At this point you will be tempted to stop drinking and eating. DON'T STOP. The reason I'm feeling so good today (only 3 days later) is because I faced the pain and stayed well fed and hydrated. Seriously, push through the pain and take care of yourself. You will thank yourself for it later.
Day Five: Same as the day before except the knives were more like machetes when I woke up. Just a lot of ear and throat pain. I'm not going to sugar coat it; when your scabs start to fall off life just kinda sucks for a while. I kept eating well, took my Tylenol every 8 hours, and drank bottle after bottle of water. If you aren't urinating twice as often as normal you probably aren't drinking enough. You should be annoyed at how often you have to go to the bathroom. Hydration, from what I've experienced this past week, is the key to quick recovery. I had a burger, fries, and frosty from Wendy's for my diet on this day. Eating it was painful, but I got a lot of needed nutrients and the joy of eating some juicier food. By the end of this day the pain was starting to get noticeably better. By the end of the night I actually felt good enough to schedule a trip the next day up to Lexington, Kentucky (3 hours away) to visit some friends. Like I said, take care of yourself through the 48-72 hours of intense pain and you'll come out of it quicker.
Day Six: This was the first day I felt better then the day before when I woke up. Don't get me wrong, it's still painful to swallow and especially to sneeze; but I wasn't watching the clock waiting to take my next Tylenol. Woke up around 10:00 and packed for the trip up to Lexington. Drank water on the way up there and kept well hydrated. I chewed a lot of gum (both on this day and the days before) to keep my jaw loose and moist and to mask the icky breath from the scabs. I was able to eat some stromboli and another burger on this day. Again, it's not fun eating this stuff because it still hurts a lot to swallow. But eating good food keeps me with energy I need to recovery and keeps my spirits high.
Day Seven (Today): Another forward step away from the pain. Definitely felt a lot better today then I have before. Still have scabs but they get smaller and smaller by the end of each day. It's still the most painful waking up and immediately after eating, but it's a lot more bearable. If I am late for a dose of Tylenol it doesn't cause me much grief. Up until this point my speech was a little funny and I definitely found it easier to talk today. I'm in high spirits now as I write this because I can tell I'm on the upswing of recovery and it's only been a week!
Summary of Advice:
A little background: I decided to get the tonsillectomy due to tonsil stones (Tonsilloliths). I had multiple bouts with strep throat and one good fight with scarlet fever as a child but never got the tonsils removed. Sadly my tonsils got cryptic and I had to clean tonsil stones daily. Anyone who has dealt with it knows that it isn't the most fun thing in the world. I'm 20 and still on my parent's insurance plan so we got an appointment scheduled with the ENT. I was pretty blunt with him and came in there with a pretty firm technical knowledge of my problem and asked if he could sign off on a tonsillectomy. He told me a lot of ENT's are "gunshy" about removing tonsils these days but he gladly takes them out for people dealing with tonsilloliths. He said he's taken tonsils out of a 67 year old woman for that exact problem. I was confident he was the right doctor for me so we got a tonsillectomy schedule for this past Friday (7 days ago).
I went into surgery with an extremely positive mindset. I don't know if there is any medical backing for this but I'm a firm believer that going into surgery with the mindset that it's going to go perfect and recovery will be a breeze (and keeping that attitude) will translate into results after the surgery. The nurses commented multiple times that I was one of their most fun patients. Hey, if I was a nurse I would want to have fun patients Razz
They wheeled me back for surgery at 8:00. I was hooked up to all the IV and ready to be wheeled in for the anesthesia at around 8:30. Woke up feeling pretty groggy and immediately asked how the surgery went. The nurses said it went as planned and gave me some Sprite to drink. After an hour or so of monitoring to make sure everything was going as planned they released me to go home, hoorah. Here is a day by day account of what has happened post-op.
Day One (surgery): Felt great. Of course there was some mild throat pain and I had Roxicet (pain meds) running through my system. I was more annoyed because my htead felt stuffy and dizzy due to the anesthesia/meds as compared to the throat pain. I read up a lot about post-op eating habits and basically concluded that eating what you want is okay (within reason, no really sharp foods) as long as you can take the pain of swallowing. I also heard that eating is just as important as drinking because it keeps important nutrients in your system for quick recovery. My theme for recovery was, "More pain now, less later." I downed a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup, ice cream, a croissant and jello the first day. I was drinking water constantly. Oh, your uvula will probably be really swollen. Don't let it freak you out.
Day Two: Noticeable increase in pain during the second day. I wasn't miserable, but my throat was definitely telling my brain it had recently undergone some surgery. Kept taking my Roxicet every four hours as prescribed. I moved on to chicken noodle soup to get some vegetables in my system and also blended a peanut butter/banana/chocolate/protein powder/thin mint cookie shake which was really soothing and filled with calories. Croissants, pudding and ice cream were still my comfort foods. Water, of course, was flowing through my system. I had to pee a lot, which is a good thing.
Day Three: Another bump up in the pain. I realized when I woke up that it was always worse in the morning after a night of sleep. I also made the decision on day three to stop taking Roxicet and switch to extra strength Tylenol. I hate feeling like I'm not in control of myself and the Roxicet just made my head feel loopy. It was also making me constipated and I'm quite fond of working bowels. I also wanted to track the pain in my throat more precisely so I decided to suck it up and use Tylenol instead of the prescribed pain killers. I would only recommend getting off pain meds this early if you can still force yourself to deal with the pain of swallowing and still eat. No huge changes in my diet, I think I had a sloppy joe that night because I wanted some meat.
Day Four: Here is where recovery went from, "Hey I can take this" to "Wow this sucks". I have a pretty high pain but being off the Roxicet and having my scabs start to loosen was not enjoyable at all. Every time I swallowed it felt like knives were being jammed in my ears. Expect the ear pain, it will come. Just be ready for it when it does. Ice packs helped get me through the day. At this point you will be tempted to stop drinking and eating. DON'T STOP. The reason I'm feeling so good today (only 3 days later) is because I faced the pain and stayed well fed and hydrated. Seriously, push through the pain and take care of yourself. You will thank yourself for it later.
Day Five: Same as the day before except the knives were more like machetes when I woke up. Just a lot of ear and throat pain. I'm not going to sugar coat it; when your scabs start to fall off life just kinda sucks for a while. I kept eating well, took my Tylenol every 8 hours, and drank bottle after bottle of water. If you aren't urinating twice as often as normal you probably aren't drinking enough. You should be annoyed at how often you have to go to the bathroom. Hydration, from what I've experienced this past week, is the key to quick recovery. I had a burger, fries, and frosty from Wendy's for my diet on this day. Eating it was painful, but I got a lot of needed nutrients and the joy of eating some juicier food. By the end of this day the pain was starting to get noticeably better. By the end of the night I actually felt good enough to schedule a trip the next day up to Lexington, Kentucky (3 hours away) to visit some friends. Like I said, take care of yourself through the 48-72 hours of intense pain and you'll come out of it quicker.
Day Six: This was the first day I felt better then the day before when I woke up. Don't get me wrong, it's still painful to swallow and especially to sneeze; but I wasn't watching the clock waiting to take my next Tylenol. Woke up around 10:00 and packed for the trip up to Lexington. Drank water on the way up there and kept well hydrated. I chewed a lot of gum (both on this day and the days before) to keep my jaw loose and moist and to mask the icky breath from the scabs. I was able to eat some stromboli and another burger on this day. Again, it's not fun eating this stuff because it still hurts a lot to swallow. But eating good food keeps me with energy I need to recovery and keeps my spirits high.
Day Seven (Today): Another forward step away from the pain. Definitely felt a lot better today then I have before. Still have scabs but they get smaller and smaller by the end of each day. It's still the most painful waking up and immediately after eating, but it's a lot more bearable. If I am late for a dose of Tylenol it doesn't cause me much grief. Up until this point my speech was a little funny and I definitely found it easier to talk today. I'm in high spirits now as I write this because I can tell I'm on the upswing of recovery and it's only been a week!
Summary of Advice:
- Drink a lot of water! When it hurts, drink. When it doesn't hurt, drink. When you think you can't drink, drink. If you throw up, drink. Drink, drink, drink. It's vital to recovery and you will thank yourself many times over
- Don't wait to start eating. Get nutrients in your system as soon as possible and keep them streaming in. Avoid really sharp and scratchy foods so you don't chip away at your scabs early, but don't be afraid to eat.
- Sleeping at an angle helped me feel better the next morning. If your uvula swells you will probably find it hard to sleep lying flat on your back because it will cover a lot of your throat.
- Remember that you can make recovery basically painless if you just sit there and breath without swallowing or moving your mouth. But this will result in a long recovery. Fight through the hard days and realize that it will eventually get better! Your throat needs to be moist and active.
- Have stuff to do. I distracted myself with movies and computer games. It helps a lot.
- Last but not least, have people praying for you and checking in on you. It's encouraging and makes the recovery process less lonesome
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I think I'm having a very different recovery than most people. I was expecting the worst pain of my life, and now I'm on day 6 and I don't really think I have had pain at all, more than a bit of discomfort.
Background
I'm a 40 year old woman in the US, very healthy, work out and eat well. A very positive thinker, but really a wuss when it comes to pain. I'm ridiculously scared of dentists and doctors, but I do go, so I'm not terrified. I always ask for a lot of anesthetics, because I don't like pain at all. I'm not sure what my pain level is, but I'm fairly clumsy and bump in to things, and find out a few days later when I see a big bump and a bruise. So, not a total wimp, either, I guess. I had my tonsils taken out because of the slight risk of lymphoma.
This is my experience so far:
Day 1
Surgery at 7:30 a.m. I was out of the hospital in 15 minutes after I woke up, because I just wanted to go home. I felt tired, hungry and a bit nauseous, but not in pain. I was taking Oxycodone every 4 hours. And drank nearly 20 glasses of ice water, and had one Slimfast for dinner. I was already talking that day, although with a quieter voice. I did sleep badly that night, but that was partly because I slept almost sitting up, and I was still suffering from a cold that made me have to clear my nose and throat of phlegm a couple of times that night. And yes, i got up once because the pain med started to wear off, and since I don't like pain, I took it as soon as I started feeling some discomfort.
Day 2-3
Still drinking 15-20 large glasses of ice water per day. I also had a couple of Slimfasts with lots of ice, plus some Jello and ice cream. Still coughing up a lot of phlegm. I felt OK, but a little but dizzy. Couldn't do anything else but watch TV. Reading was impossible. Felt lazy and useless, not used to being sick. No pain, just discomfort, even when I was coughing or swallowing. I called the doctor's office to schedule the follow-up appointment, and they were surprised I could talk at all. I was already talking normally. I was now taking the painkiller every 5-7 hours.
Day 4
This may be the only day that I felt a bit bad. No throat or ear pain, but a severe head ache. I stopped taking the Oxycodone and went over to liquid Tylenol. I also started eating soups toast with avocado. The way I see it is that you have to chew everything so much, so it doesn't matter if it's toasted, because once you swallow it it's just mush anyway. This is the only day I felt sick, weak, cried a lot and just wanted the whole thing to be over. This day I probably only had 10 large glasses of tepid water, no icewater.
Day 5
Already tired of sweet stuff, I ate bean soup, toast with avocado and spaghetti (with soup). Spaghetti was not a good idea, because I found couldn't control the bits of spaghetti with my tongue and they went all over the mouth, touching the back of my throat where the tonsils used to be. Not very comfortable... This day I took the equivalent of two Tylenols, one when I woke up, and one in the afternoon when I had a bit of a headache. I found that the icewater numbs the discomfort very well. This was also the first night I slept on my back, but I did snore a lot because of the cold (which never goes away because I'm drinking so much icewater).
Day 6 - today
I only had the equivalent of one Tylenol in the morning, and that was it. I have no pain, and I've noticed a lot of the scabs off my tonsils has already gone. There's still some at the back of my throat, though... I feel healthy, though still a bit weak. I had an omelet with onions, sundried tomatoes and olives for breakfast. A friend came over for a couple of hours and we went out for a walk. After 2 hours my throat was very dry and my voice needed to rest. I just had some jello. Right now my throat feels like when you have a bit of a cold and a hint of a sore throat. I took the last Tylenol 9 hours ago.
Summary
I'm just guessing, but I think the huge amounts of icewater was the one thing that has helped me recover this fast. It's soothed my throat immensely, and kept it hydrated. AND, eating soft solids, like toast, with scrapes a little layer off the scabs every time you eat seems to help more than waiting and letting them fall off in chunks.
I'll post again if I start feeling pain later, in the next week or so, but I don't think I will.
My rating of the pain is probably a 3, on a scale from 1-10, when 1 is "I feel nothing", and 10 is "it hurts so much, I'd rather stick needles in my eyes".
Hope this helps people who are scared. I was terrified.
Background
I'm a 40 year old woman in the US, very healthy, work out and eat well. A very positive thinker, but really a wuss when it comes to pain. I'm ridiculously scared of dentists and doctors, but I do go, so I'm not terrified. I always ask for a lot of anesthetics, because I don't like pain at all. I'm not sure what my pain level is, but I'm fairly clumsy and bump in to things, and find out a few days later when I see a big bump and a bruise. So, not a total wimp, either, I guess. I had my tonsils taken out because of the slight risk of lymphoma.
This is my experience so far:
Day 1
Surgery at 7:30 a.m. I was out of the hospital in 15 minutes after I woke up, because I just wanted to go home. I felt tired, hungry and a bit nauseous, but not in pain. I was taking Oxycodone every 4 hours. And drank nearly 20 glasses of ice water, and had one Slimfast for dinner. I was already talking that day, although with a quieter voice. I did sleep badly that night, but that was partly because I slept almost sitting up, and I was still suffering from a cold that made me have to clear my nose and throat of phlegm a couple of times that night. And yes, i got up once because the pain med started to wear off, and since I don't like pain, I took it as soon as I started feeling some discomfort.
Day 2-3
Still drinking 15-20 large glasses of ice water per day. I also had a couple of Slimfasts with lots of ice, plus some Jello and ice cream. Still coughing up a lot of phlegm. I felt OK, but a little but dizzy. Couldn't do anything else but watch TV. Reading was impossible. Felt lazy and useless, not used to being sick. No pain, just discomfort, even when I was coughing or swallowing. I called the doctor's office to schedule the follow-up appointment, and they were surprised I could talk at all. I was already talking normally. I was now taking the painkiller every 5-7 hours.
Day 4
This may be the only day that I felt a bit bad. No throat or ear pain, but a severe head ache. I stopped taking the Oxycodone and went over to liquid Tylenol. I also started eating soups toast with avocado. The way I see it is that you have to chew everything so much, so it doesn't matter if it's toasted, because once you swallow it it's just mush anyway. This is the only day I felt sick, weak, cried a lot and just wanted the whole thing to be over. This day I probably only had 10 large glasses of tepid water, no icewater.
Day 5
Already tired of sweet stuff, I ate bean soup, toast with avocado and spaghetti (with soup). Spaghetti was not a good idea, because I found couldn't control the bits of spaghetti with my tongue and they went all over the mouth, touching the back of my throat where the tonsils used to be. Not very comfortable... This day I took the equivalent of two Tylenols, one when I woke up, and one in the afternoon when I had a bit of a headache. I found that the icewater numbs the discomfort very well. This was also the first night I slept on my back, but I did snore a lot because of the cold (which never goes away because I'm drinking so much icewater).
Day 6 - today
I only had the equivalent of one Tylenol in the morning, and that was it. I have no pain, and I've noticed a lot of the scabs off my tonsils has already gone. There's still some at the back of my throat, though... I feel healthy, though still a bit weak. I had an omelet with onions, sundried tomatoes and olives for breakfast. A friend came over for a couple of hours and we went out for a walk. After 2 hours my throat was very dry and my voice needed to rest. I just had some jello. Right now my throat feels like when you have a bit of a cold and a hint of a sore throat. I took the last Tylenol 9 hours ago.
Summary
I'm just guessing, but I think the huge amounts of icewater was the one thing that has helped me recover this fast. It's soothed my throat immensely, and kept it hydrated. AND, eating soft solids, like toast, with scrapes a little layer off the scabs every time you eat seems to help more than waiting and letting them fall off in chunks.
I'll post again if I start feeling pain later, in the next week or so, but I don't think I will.
My rating of the pain is probably a 3, on a scale from 1-10, when 1 is "I feel nothing", and 10 is "it hurts so much, I'd rather stick needles in my eyes".
Hope this helps people who are scared. I was terrified.
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Hi im a 24 yr female. I have had problems with my tonsills for as long as I can remember. I seem to get strep throat every two months or so and I also have those little tonsille siths or whatever they are called. When I was 12 mom tryed to get my doctor to take them out but he refused. He put me on penecilin (which never worked) and left me to suffer till it ot better on it's own. I tryed to get them out again when I was 16 and 18 and 21, But of course they refused. They said that unless I have strep throat at twice in one month that I didn't need them out. One month ago I came down with a very bad cold which took almost three weeks to get over. After that I realised that my tonsills were still messed up so I went back to my doctor. She prescribed me some penecilin and took a throat culture. In three days it came back and said that I have type f strep throat which I guess is really rare! She decided to refure me to a ent. I had my apointment yesterday with him. He was shocked that I stilll had these huge things! He decided to have them removed. I have my surgery on the 24th. Im really happy to get rid of them but after reading everyones stories im really scared. I have a very low pain tolerance and im not sure if I will be able to handle the pain. Does anyone have any tips on keeping the pain down and also I think that I may have a issue with pain meds. I have a very sensitive stomic and im not sure if they can handle heavy drugs. Any tips on nausa? Thanks Victoria
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Well, I'm an 18-year-old female, and I just had my tonsils taken out 5 days ago. And, well, I have not been able to eat much at all since the first day. I've lost 13 pounds in 5 days, and I'm really weak. I have been able to eat a blueberry muffin and half of a scrambled egg, but other than that, I've been vomiting everything else up.
Which brings me to another topic. The painkillers were too much for my empty stomach to handle, so I decided to try 500mg Extra-Strength Tylenol. Along with that, my doctor also prescribed me some anti-vomiting pills. I've been taking those every 6 hours along with my tylenol. But the best thing that has helped me through the pain is ice packs. My mom went to the store for me and picked up 4 different ice packs just so I have plenty ready. And sucking on ice cubes helped too. But make sure the ice cubes are small enough to put in your mouth, because if you open your mouth too wide, it will hurt.
These last few days have been pretty blurry for me, and some hours were horrible, but the doctor also said I had huge tonsils and enlarged adnoids, so I probably had the worst of the pain. If it wasn't for my mom to be there for me I really couldn't have handled it. And it seems like the pain has gone on forever, but it is so worth it. Before I had my tonsils taken out, I had sleeping problems because my tonsils would block my airway, and my mom has told me that since the surgery, I haven't snored at all.
Make sure you get a lot of rest too. Sleeping through the pain is the best way to get through it.
So here's the scoop: yes, it is painful. Yes, it seems like it will go on forever. However, yes, it is worth it. Just make sure you have someone to take care of you if you're worried about being alone. And even though you will get moody, cranky, and frustrated, time will pass and you'll be better in no time! :-)
Which brings me to another topic. The painkillers were too much for my empty stomach to handle, so I decided to try 500mg Extra-Strength Tylenol. Along with that, my doctor also prescribed me some anti-vomiting pills. I've been taking those every 6 hours along with my tylenol. But the best thing that has helped me through the pain is ice packs. My mom went to the store for me and picked up 4 different ice packs just so I have plenty ready. And sucking on ice cubes helped too. But make sure the ice cubes are small enough to put in your mouth, because if you open your mouth too wide, it will hurt.
These last few days have been pretty blurry for me, and some hours were horrible, but the doctor also said I had huge tonsils and enlarged adnoids, so I probably had the worst of the pain. If it wasn't for my mom to be there for me I really couldn't have handled it. And it seems like the pain has gone on forever, but it is so worth it. Before I had my tonsils taken out, I had sleeping problems because my tonsils would block my airway, and my mom has told me that since the surgery, I haven't snored at all.
Make sure you get a lot of rest too. Sleeping through the pain is the best way to get through it.
So here's the scoop: yes, it is painful. Yes, it seems like it will go on forever. However, yes, it is worth it. Just make sure you have someone to take care of you if you're worried about being alone. And even though you will get moody, cranky, and frustrated, time will pass and you'll be better in no time! :-)
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hello everyone i got my tonsils out on 3/31/09 which was about 4 days ago. after eading all the horror stories i went in expecting the pain to be unbearable. butits day 5 all it really feels like is a bad sore throat, i already ate regular foods starting the day after the surgery. just stay hydrated!!!! and you will be fine, even though it might hurt at first when u swallow its better then bleeding and longer healing. the only complaint i have is that i had a bad headache all day which is probly from all the meds, other wise im fine. so if your nervous like i was, dont be its really not tht bad, just go in with your head up knowin you will recover fast =]
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NO!NO!NO! This is the same reason I had my surgery done. This pain is worse than anything I have ever felt in my entire life! I would take those nasty little stones back any day over having this surgery. My stones never caused discomfort they were just nasty. I could remove them with q-tips and they would be back in three days or so. Don't have this surgery just for them.
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I am a 32 year old male with a history of both a deviated septum and obstructed airway. I had a septoplasty back in 1996. I recently saw another ENT and he recommended another septoplasty and said that my tonsils were extremely large and that he would recommend removing them. I also showed signs of having nasal polyps. So my question is this, has anyone had an all inclusive surgery like this one, and what should expect as far as pain.
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